Waiting on pitching

Josh Beckett is supposed to be the ace of the Boston Red Sox rotation, but his 6.31 ERA and 1-0 record through six starts is not what the team expects from him during a year that's supposed to stress pitching and defense

The finger can be pointed at more than just Josh Beckett, of course. But he's yet to pitch more than seven innings this season, even against the lowly Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Sure, allowing only two runs in seven innings of six-hit, no-walk baseball is usually enough to win a game. And to be fair, it was Jonathan Papelbon who blew it in extra innings. But when's the last time you saw Beckett step onto the mound and threaten to go all nine, and be the complete horse he once was?

Maybe I have higher expectations than most, but it seemed to me that Sunday's game against an Orioles team that only had six wins (18 losses) was the type of outing in which you should expect Beckett to do nothing less than straight up deal.

Instead, he was just pretty good. And we can blame the offense all we want for not putting up runs on Sunday, but the bats aren't the team's biggest issue. Starting pitching is.

An 11-14 record has created some cause for concern in Boston, and rightfully so. But I'm not pressing the panic button just yet, only because I know that at some point, Beckett will be that horse again, and the rest of the rotation will begin pitching like the starters everybody initially thought the team had, heading into the season.

I kept it optimistic on Monday's show. Not because I'm trying to be a cheerleader, but because I actually believe things will get better for the Red Sox. Listen to Monday's show in its entirety, by clicking here, or subscribing on iTunes.

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